755 
C6V6 


7^      »-^-f  '■■ 


^^ 


..^MlJ.JJt^afWff^ 


nia 


J.:r^ 


■s  -  '^-.'^.. 


i 


B'  The  Library  |j 

University  of  California,  Los  Angeles     ^ 


Note  Introductory. 


Believing  that  the  members  of  the  Congregation  Emanuel,  and 
the  numerous  friends  of  the  late  Rev.  Dr.  Cohn  would  Hke  to 
preserve  a  souvenir  of  the  departed,  I  have  prepared  the  ad- 
dresses delivered  upon  the  occasion  of  his  funeral  and  the  me- 
morial service  in  his  honor,  for  publication,  and  introduced  them 
with  an  excellent  likeness  of  my  departed  friend.  It  was  in- 
tended that  the  remarks  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Stebbins  should  be  a 
part  of  this  memoir,  but  at  a  late  hour  I  was  compelled  to  go  to 
press  without  them. 

The  following  pages  contain  the  reverent  expressions  of  a  man 

who  loved  Dr.  Cohn  as  if  he  had  been  his  father  and  preceptor. 

Dr.  Elkan  Cohn  was  one  of  the  greatest  of  men,  because  he  was 

one  of  the  purest,  and  because  of  the   lofty  traits  of  character 

that  distinguished   him,   he  will   live   in  our   memory   perhaps 

longer  than  those  who  in  the  days  of  stirring  strife  forgot  that 

words  of  peace  and  love  are  stronger  weapons  than  the  shafts  of 

abuse  and  malice.      San  Francisco  and  its  Jewish  community 

loved  him;  and  our  local  history  will  ever  know  him  as  the  man 

who  did  the  most  on  this  Coast  towards  elevating  the  standard 

of  progressive  Judaism.     This  is  the  sum  of  his  history.     May 

the  earth  rest  softly  on  his  ashes  ! 

J.  V. 


^1®i&niung^ 


■Jt^' 


p^'niD  nnv  [nn^ca  D^p^iy  □'''?'iij 


Talmud  Babli  Sanhedrin.- 


Das  Leben  eines  Mann's  von  echtem  Adel, 

Erhaben  liber  beide,  Lob  und  Tadel, 

Das  wollen  diese  Blatter  ehrlich  schildern; 

Sie  soUen  Nichts  vergrossern  und  Nichts  mildern. 

So  wahr  wie  er  im  Leben  ist  gewesen, 
So  wahr  im  Tode  sollt  ihr  von  ihm  lesen; 
Dann  ruft  auch  ihr  in  trauervollem  Tone: 
"  Ein  Edelstein  fiel  aus  Jisraels  Krone!" 


<i 


w 


J 


ci>   yg. 


J^ 


^^T^ 


V: 


293123 


EULOOY 

DELn-ERED  O^-ER   THE   REMAINS  OF  THE 

Btti.  Br.  SilUnn  tCol\n, 

On  March   14th,   1889, 

—  BY  — 

Rev.  Dr.  Jacob  Voorsanger. 


2  Kings,  II,  Verse,  3.  And  the  sons  of  the  prophets  that  were  at  Bethel  came 
forth  unto  Elisha  and  said  unto  him,  "  Knowest  thou  that  to-day  the  Lord  will 
take  away  ihy  master  from  thy  head  ?"  And  he  said,  "  I  also  know  it;  be  still.' 
Verses  11 -12.  And  it  came  to  pass  as  they  went  on,  speaking  as  they  were 
going,  that,  behold,  there  came  a  chariot  of  fire  and  horses  of  fire,  and  parted 
them  both  asunder;  and  Elijah  went  up  by  a  storm- wind  to  heaven;  and  Elisha 
saw  it,  and  he  cried,  "  My  father  !  my  father !  the  chariot  of  Israel  and  their 

horsemen."     And  he  saw  him  no  more 

Friends,  we  meet  to-day  in  the  gloom  and  o'erhanging  pall  of 
death.    We  are  bereft,  orphaned.    Onr  venerable  teacher,  the  ob- 
ject of  our  love  and  reverence,  has  answered  the  summons  of  eter- 
nity.    His  gain  is  the  peace  eternal  of  God  our  father;  our  loss  is 
himself,  his  learning,  his  character,  his  virtues.     Ever)'  heart  feels 
best  to-day  what  it  has  lost.     The  congregration  of  Israel  is  in 
mourning.    Far  and  wide  the  message  has  gone  forth  that  Eman- 
uel has  lost  its  father,  its  teacher,  its  pure-hearted,  gentle  old 
rabbi,  and  let  us  say  to  the  world  that  it  knows  not  the  tenth  part 
of  our  loss.     And  my  own  lips  would  also  be  dumb  to-day,  and  I 
would  fain  sit  with  you  in  silence,   in  the  silence  of  sorrow  and 
mourning,  for  my  heart  weeps  for  him,  and  my  words  can  give 
no  adequate  expression  to  the  sentiments  that  fill  my  breast.    For 
I  am  left  alone  to  teach  you  and  to  speak  to  you.     Left  alone, 
without  that  cheering,  venerable  presence,  that  handsome  old  man, 
whose  looks  were  expressive  of  wisdom,  whose  smile  of  approval 


was  mental  nourishment  to  me,  whose  pure  life  and  exalted  char- 
acter were  the  finest  examples  I  have  had  during  all  the  years  of 
my  life.  All  that  he  was  to  you,  to  me,  to  his  family  and  his 
friends, — what  language  but  tears  of  sorrow  could  express  it  to-day? 

And  yet  must  I  speak;  we  will  not  carry  him  to  the  home  we 
have  prepared  for  him  without  the  tenderest  adieux.  If  his  life 
was  one  long  lesson,  that  taught  the  house  of  Israel  the  noblest 
conception  of  duty,  his  death  likewise  shall  teach  us  many  lessons. 
We  are  taught  that  the  righteous  never  die.  Disintegration  affects 
the  dust  only.  His  soul,  in  its  upward  flight,  relieved  of  the 
shackles  that  sometimes  were  painful  to  it,  has  left  sparks  of  its  di- 
vine character  with  us,  and  we  pray  God  that  our  dear  teacher  may 
have  left  a  double  portion  of  his  spirit  behind  him.  Some  other 
time,  when  those  who  are  doubly  bereft,  his  dear  children,  shall  be 
better  prepared  to  listen;  when  the  poignancy  of  our  own  grief 
shall  somewhat  have  passed  away,  we  will  meet  again  in  these 
sombre  halls,  which  are  draped  in  the  emblems  of  our  mourning, 
and  before  all  the  world  we  will  give  testimony  of  our  great  love 
and  reverence,  and  in  accord  with  the  usage  of  our  fathers,  pay 
a  fitting  tribute  to  his  noble  life,  and  the  great  works  he  has 
wrought.  To-day  let  us  give  vent  to  our  sorrow,  the  expression 
of  grieved  hearts;  but  let  us  not  part  without  permitting  some  di- 
vine ray  of  consolation  to  illumine  our  dark  surroundings,  and 
casting  our  eyes  heavenward,  invoke  the  grace  of  God  upon  the 
living  and  the  beloved  dead. 

That  ancient  tradition  I  just  read  to  you  hath  a  forceful  lesson 
just  now.  Popular  veneration  of  the  great  prophet,  whose 
migration  to  celestial  regions  caused  so  much  sorrow  in  the  hearts 
of  his  disciples,  easily  transfigured  his  death  into  a  mere  departure 
to  heaven.  There  is  no  mysticism  in  the  loving,  tender  thought 
that  our  loved  ones  never  die.  Israel  had  no  monument  to  be- 
stow upon  Elijah,  except  the  noblest;  it  engrafted  upon  the  mem- 
ory of  posterity  the  great  fact,  that,  though  his  body  had  disap- 


peared,  his  speech  was  no  longer  heard,  his  defiance  no  longer 
luirled  at  the  irreligious  and  unrighteous,  he  was  not  dead.  And 
he  left  disciples  behind  him,  too;  men,  who,  unworthy  of  wear- 
ing his  mantle,  prayed  that  they  might  continue  his  work  and  live 
and  labor  by  his  example.  So  hath  oriental  fashioning  given  us  in 
quaint  form  one  of  the  living  facts  of  history,  one  of  the  factors  of 
human  endeavor,  namely,  that  the  work  and  the  experience  of 
good,  brave  men  never  die,  but  serve  the  double  purpose  of  in- 
structing humanity  and  causing  the  memory  of  the  good  to  endure 
forever.  In  that  deduction  from  the  closing  scenes  of  Elijah's  life 
lies  my  trust  and  consolation,  as,  my  beloved,  it  must  be  yours. 
Our  own  teacher,  your  faithful  guide  of  thirty  years,  that  modern 
Elijah,  who  raised  the  standard  of  our  sacred  faith  high  toward 
the  skies,  whose  brilliant  qualities  distinguished  him  among  his 
fellows,  the  leader  and  teacher  of  his  professional  brethren,  the 
true  gentleman,  the  pious,  venerable  patriarch  whose  gentle  eye 
never  cast  an  angry  ray  upon  a  loved  child  or  friend,  whose  white 
hairs  were  a  crown  of  glory  adorning  a  head  that  never  harbored 
an  impure,  unholy  thought ;  friends,  the  whirlwind  that  men  call 
Death  has  taken  him  up,  and  like  Elisha  by  the  border  of  Jordan 
and  the  disciples  further  off,  we  stand  here,  piercing  the  sky  with 
strained  eyes  and  persuading  ourselves  that,  though  the  earth 
must  have  his  body,  he  is  indeed,  not  dead,  no,  not  dead;  and  I 
am  come  to  teach  you  why  he  shall  continue  to  live  in  our  hearts. 

The  world  hath  many  failings.  It  hath  the  imperfection  natural 
to  all  dust ;  oftentimes  its  memory  fails  when  the  deeds  and  ac- 
comphshments  of  the  past  are  to  be  reviewed.  Every  generation 
gives  a  shout  of  triumph  at  its  own  success,  and  in  the  hour  of 
successful  accomplishment  ungrateful  comparisons  are  made.  But 
the  world  is  not  altogether  oblivious  of  its  obligations  to  the  past. 
Its  memory  is  stunted  sometimes,  but  rarely  fails  altogether. 
God,  who  gives  peace  eternal  to  our  righteous  and  our  good,  gives 
them  likewise  a  place  in  our  memory.     In  the  hours  of  tender 


remembrance  the  dead  arise,  and  the  great  army  of  them  place  at 
our  feet  the  blessings  of  many  generations.  When  memory  is 
active,  human  speech  is  eloquent  to  proclaim,  to  loudly  proclaim 
the  noble  deeds  the  present  inherits  from  the  past,  and  as  the  sun 
leaps  forth  at  the  break  of  day  to  shed  light  on  silent  earth,  on 
resting,  sleeping  men,  so  come  these  deeds  to  warm  our  silent 
hearts  into  newer  and  greater  love  for  ihe  dead.  And  in  the 
present  instance  let  us  determine  that  his  name  shall  live  amongst 
us;  let  us  speak  tender,  loving  words  of  him  to  our  little  ones;  de- 
scribe the  beauty  of  his  soul,  the  holiness  of  his  life;  describe  the 
man  whose  whole  career  was  a  grand  offering  to  the  God  of  his 
fathers,  who  min'stered  at  the  altar  in  truth,  in  simple-hearted 
faith,  in  the  purest  intentions  that  ever  pervaded  human  breast. 
You  will  doubtless  speak  in  after  days  of  his  great  learning,  that 
he  was  one  of  the  modern  scribes,  deeply  versed  in  the  law;  that 
the  Talmud  was  an  open  book  to  him;  that  he  spoke  many  lan- 
guages, and  had  exhausted  the  well-springs  of  knowledge.  But 
tell  your  children  likewise  that,  great  scholar  as  he  was,  he  was  a 
greater  man;  that  his  heart  was  as  pure  as  his  mind  was  lofty,  and 
that  deeply  as  we  admired  his  learning  we  yet  loved  him  better 
for  his  character,  which,  of  God's  own  making,  made  Dr.  Elkan 
Cohn  one  of  the  truest,  noblest  gentlemen  that  ever  graced  his 
generation.  Tell  these  children  that  he  himself  esteemed  his 
learning  but  as  a  means  of  accomplishing  greater  works  than 
writing  books.  Tell  them  of  to-day,  when  in  this  great  city  of 
San  Francisco  and  in  the  congregations  he  served  in  his  young 
manhood,  there  are  men  and  women  weeping  and  mourning  for 
that  by  his  death  the  hand  of  God  rests  heavily  upon  them.  The 
great  number  that  as  children  felt  his  dear  hands  rest  upon  them 
in  blessing,  the  great  number  who  as  happy  couples  stood  before 
him  to  hear  him  tell  of  the  noble  mission  of  men  and  women  when 
united  in  marriage,  the  happy  throng  of  children  to  whom  his 
venerable  presence  was  an  inspiration  —  they  will  all  remember 
him  and  love  him  until  their  eyes  also  close  in  death, — and  could 


the  procession  but  find  room,  you  would  witness  a  spectacle  to- 
day that  would  create  a  lasting  impression  upon  you.  You  would 
see  throngs  of  men  crying  that  their  benefactor  is  dead.  You 
would  hear  testimony  that  this  modest  man,  this  retiring  scholar 
eased  and  solaced  the  pain  of  hundreds,  gave  them  of  his  sub- 
stance, spoke  words  of  the  tenderest  love  to  them,  healed  the 
wounds  in  their  hearts  by  the  balm  of  his  great  aftection  for  hu- 
manity, was  a  father  to  orphans  who  almost  idolized  him,  was  a 
counselor  to  widows  who  blessed  God  that  Dr.  Elkan  Cohn  was 
living  to  aid  them  in  their  terrible  straits.  And  you  would  also 
hear  testimony  that  this  man  stood  between  factions  and  created 
peace  by  the  pure  force  of  example.  Ask  those  who  knew  him 
to  be  an  ardent,  consistent  reformer  —  those  who  differ  with  me 
and  differed  with  him  —  ask  them  for  the  merits  of  this  man.  And 
they  will  give  testimony  that  he  was  pure ;  that  no  truer  servant 
of  God  ever  stepped  the  soil  of  this  land;  that  all  differences  of 
opinion  were  forgotten  when  his  virtues  were  considered;  that  he 
never,  never  held  man  accountable  for  an  opposite  opinion,  but 
looked  upon  Jew  and  Christian  alike  as  the  children  of  a  good 
God,  whose  servant  he  was,  and  whose  service  demanded  the  ex- 
ercise of  loving  kindness  to  all  men.  With  him  —  though  he  was 
a  Jew  to  the  core  of  his  heart  —  creeds  were  but  means  to  accom- 
plish noble  deeds,  and  he  esteemed  them  all  alike  as  the  instru- 
ments of  Deity  to  effect  the  moral  education  of  mankind. 

And  fail  not,  my  brethren,  to  tell  your  children  that  Dr.  Elkan 
Cohn  was  a  patriot,  an  ardent  believer  in  the  holiness  of  the  Amer- 
ican Constitution,  a  faithful,  self-sacrificing  citizen,  whose  lofty 
conception  of  duty  and  obedience  to  law  gave  utterance  in  days 
of  fateful  strife  between  brethren  to  words  that  helped  to  save. 
Teach  them  also,  friends,  your  knowledge  of  our  departed  friend's 
virtues.  He  never  spoke  but  for  the  good  of  his  fellow-men.  He 
never  thought  but  to  bless  and  to  do  good.  He  never  harbored 
an  impure  sentiment.    He  never  gave  willing  offense  to  a  soul  on 


God's  earth.  He  never  breathed  an  offensive  word  against  his 
neighbor.  When  he  was  offended  he  was  silent  and  grieved  in 
his  heart,  yet  too  noble  to  repay  evil,  and  those  among  you  who 
knew  him  longer  than  I  did  will  surely  bear  me  witness  that  I 
have  spoken  the  whole  truth.  For  all  of  this,  my  brethren,  his 
loss  to  us  is  so  great  that  we  shall  only  be  able  to  estimate  it  when 
Sabbath  after  Sabbath  his  chair  shall  remain  vacant,  when  the 
poor  shall  come  and  cry  that  they  miss  him,  when  I  and  others, 
who  turned  to  him  for  guidance,  shall  look  in  vain  and  find  none 
other  to  take  his  place  in  the  same  degree.  But  he  shall  live 
amongst  us,  shall  he  not  ?  Such  men  as  our  departed  Rabbi  do 
not  die  "and  they  that  bring  many  to  righteousness  shall  be  like 
the  stars  and  shine  forever  and  ever." 

A  question  that  remains  to  be  answered  now  is:  "What  shall 
we  do  without  this  good  shepherd,  whose  noble  example  created 
so  much  happiness,  whose  wisdom  spread  so  much  intelligence?" 
That  also,  brethren,  shall  be  answered  by  the  mercy  ol  God. 
Speaking  for  my  noble  friend  and  in  his  name,  I  say  to  you  : 
Brethren,  we  are  orphaned  but  not  forsaken.  We  have  still  his 
life  to  guide  us,  and  we  have  God  to  aid  and  strengthen  us.  Two 
years  ago,  when  he  could  still  speak  to  us  in  unimpaired  vigor,  I 
heard  him  preach  a  sermon,  some  sentences  of  which  I  will  never 
forget.  "  Time  flies,"  he  said,  "  but  hope  remains."  "  Life  de- 
parts," he  said  then,  "  but  love  never  dies."  "  God  takes  every 
generation  in  due  time,"  said  he,  "  but  God  deprives  no  one  of 
the  message  of  His  love."  With  such  noble  teachings,  which  I 
bring  you  as  his  last  message,  shall  we  despair  that  the  future  is 
a  blank  ?  No,  no,  he  was  the  last  to  be  discouraged  when  calamity 
stalked  abroad.  He  had  faith  in  God,  he  loved  man,  and  gentle 
as  you  knew  him,  there  rested  in  him  an  indomitable  spirit  that 
never  drooped,  never  despaired,  never  doubted  the  eternal  watch- 
fulness of  God's  providence.  In  that  Providence,  brethren,  let  us 
put  our  trust  in  the  hour  of  our  sorrow.    In  Dr.  Elkan  Cohn's  name,. 


I  charge  you,  brethren,  close  ranks  !  Brethren,  no  halt  in  God's 
work,  no  cessation  in  loving  deeds.  He  loved  you,  and  he  loved 
Emanuel  with  every  fibre  of  his  great  soul,  and  could  he  speak 
now,  he  would  charge  you  to  go  onward,  to  take  the  standard 
from  his  hands  and  raise  it  still  higher,  still  higher  for  the  honor 
of  God's  name  and  the  happiness  of  humanity.  Brethren,  in 
honor  to  his  memory,  in  faithful  remembrance  of  his  distinguished 
services,  let  us  determine  to  remain  true  and  faithful  to  our  mission 
to  promote  the  happiness  of  mankind,  to  serve  God  with  heart 
and  soul,  and  to  do  those  deeds  of  loving  kindness  which  he  loved 
to  do,  as  much  the  impulse  of  his  true  heart  as  in  obedience  to  his 
high  principles.  Then,  though  he  be  gone  from  us,  he  will  bless 
us,  even  as  though  his  priestly  hands  were  upHfted  over  us  to  give 
us  the  benediction  that  came  from  his  inmost  heart. 

And  now,  brethren,  my  most  painful  task  has  come.  I  must 
say  adieu  for  him  —  a  loving,  tender  farewell  from  him  to  you, 
from  you  to  him.  From  him  to  these  sacred  precincts  in  which 
he  taught  so  long  and  so  well;  from  him  to  this  sanctuary  he  con- 
secrated with  benisons  to  the  God  of  Israel;  from  him  to  you,  who 
were  the  holiest  care  of  his  life,  and  to  your  children ,  whom  he  loved 
as  his  own;  from  him  to  the  son  and  daughters,  whom  he  adored 
and  into  whom  he  strove  to  breathe  his  own  spirit  of  loving  kind- 
ness; from  him  to  you,  Messrs.  President  and  Vice-President 
and  brethren  of  the  Board,  whom  he  faithfully  seconded  in  every 
noble  endeavor  to  promote  the  welfare  of  our  beloved  congrega- 
tion; from  him  to  the  many  poor  and  distressed  whom  he  took  as 
charges  from  his  Father  in  heaven;  from  him  to  all  of  you,  men 
and  women  of  all  classes  and  conditions,  the  last  farewell  of  a 
noble  and  upright  teacher  in  Israel.  And  adieu  to  thee,  our  de- 
parted teacher,  from  all  those  who  loved  thee  well.  Adieu,  thou 
son  of  a  race  of  teachers,  scion  of  a  noble  family.  Adieu,  thou 
good,  true  man,  thou  loving  friend,  thou  wise  master.  Adieu,  and 
the  peace  of  God  go  with  thee.     Yonder,  where  our  hands  shall 


plant  flowers  in  afiectionate  remembrance  of  thee,  yonder  we  will 
bend  our  steps,  and  on  thy  eternal  resting  place  we  shall  pray  that 
thy  noble  soul  may  find  eternal  peace  in  the  arms  of  God. 
Blessed  was  thy  coming  in,  blessed  be  thy  going  out.  May  the 
beauty  of  the  Lord  thy  God  be  upon  thee  and  His  glory  encom- 
pass thee.  We  shall  not  forget  thee.  To  us  thou  hast  left  a 
precious  inheritance,  and  it  shall  inspire  us  to  follow  in  thy  foot- 
steps. And  may  God  strengthen  us  in  this  bitter  hour,  and  teach 
us  so  to  live  that  the  beatified  spirit  of  the  departed  sage  shall 
bless  us,  and  our  own  happiness  be  the  reward  of  pure  lives  and 
noble  efforts.  May  the  Eternal  our  God  be  with  us  as  he  has 
been  with  our  fathers.  May  he  not  abandon  nor  forsake  us. 
Amen. 


LETTER    OK    CONDOLENCE 

ADDRESSED   BY  THE 

OF  SAN   FRANCISCO,  to  the 

Boar£k  of  ©it^ttors  of  temple  Stmanu^lElt 

ON  THE  OCCASION  OF  THE  DEMISE  OF 

REV.     DR.     ELKAN     COHN. 


The   Trustees  of  the  First  Unitarian  Church  of  San  Francisco 
to  the  Presidency  of  Congregation  Einanu- El: 

Brethren  —  In  our  own  name,  and  in  the  name  of  our 
Church,  we  offer  you  and  your  people  our  sincere  regards,  and 
unite  with  you  in  common  sentiments  of  respectful  and  tender 
sorrow  at  the  death  of  your  beloved  and  revered  Rabbi,  the  late 
Dr.  Elkan  Cohn.  He  was  the  teacher  and  friend  of  your  people, 
and  the  dignity  and  purity  of  his  character  made  him  beloved  by 
all.  We  have  special  reason  to  recognize  and  feel  his  wise  mag- 
nanimity, his  liberal  judgment  and  high  sense  of  duty.  Allow  us, 
brethren,  to  unite  with  you  in  these  sentiments,  and  while  we  ac- 
cept trustfully  the  will  of  heaven,  to  commit  him,  and  ourselves, 
and  our  people  to  God  as  to  a  faithful  Creator. 

Very  sincerely, 

Chas.  M.  Gorham, 
Sheldon  G.  Kellogg,  Moderator  of  the  Board. 

Clerk. 

Resolved,  That  the  foregoing  letter  be  sent  to  the  Presidency 
of  Congregation  Emanu-El. 

The  above  resolution  was  adopted  by  the  Board  March  26,  1889. 

Sheldon  G.  Kellogg, 
Clerk  Board  of  Trustees  First  Unitarian  Society. 


'Sag  B«  o*  tftc  mshteotts  that  ^e  f|a»h  Oo«c  twell." 


A    SERIVLON 

DELIVERED  AT  THE 

Memorial  S^rtiit^ 

HELD   IN    HONOR   OF   THE   LATE 

REV.    Dr.    Klkan    Cohn, 

<Dn  Bnudag,   ^prtl  Ttft,   1889, 

By    rev.    dr.    JACOB    VOORSANGER. 


Text —  Isaiah  III:  lo.  "  Say  ye  unto  the  righteous,  that  he  hath  done  wellj 
and  from  the  fruits  of  their  doings  shall  they  eat." 

It  is  now  nearly  thirty  days  since  we  have  deposited  the  re- 
mains of  our  beloved  pastor  in  their  eternal  resting  place.  Need- 
less to  recall  the  sad  event  to  your  minds  ;  our  synagogue  is  still 
decked  in  the  sombergarb  of  mourning.  Still  everything  around  us 
reminds  us  of  our  loss;  his  absence  from  our  midst  as  we  gather 
here  Sabbath  after  Sabbath  to  offer  up  our  devotions,  has  con- 
verted every  service  into  a  memorial  of  the  dear  departed.  His 
vacant  chair,  adorned  by  tender  hands  with  the  flowers  he  best 
loved,  is  the  mute  witness  of  our  regrets,  and  we  can  scarcely  re- 
concile ourselves  to  the  stern  reality  that  his  gentle  voice,  ever 
charged  with  wise  counsel,  shall  nevermore  be  heard  amongst 
us.  To  -  day  we  meet  again  to  honor  his  memory.  A  custom, 
begotten  by  deepest  reverence,  warrants  the  public  meeting  of 
Israel  within  thirty  days  after  the  passing  away  of  one  of  its  sages 
to  give  public  testimony  of  his  works  and  his  worth,  and  to  im- 
press upon  the  minds  of  the  living  the  beautiful  examples  set  by 
the  ever-remembered  dead.  This  labor  of  love,  this  task  of  rev- 
erence is  ours  to  -  day.  Let  us,  then,  pause  for  a  brief  while  to 
commune  together.  Thereafter  the  strife  and  struggle  of  life  will 
commence  anew,  and  we  shall  severally  run  our  course,  each  ac- 


cording  to  the  intelligence  God  has  given  him,  to  lay  him  down 
to  rest  when  the  word  of  command  is  spoken  that  never  yet  has 
been  disobeyed. 

Brethren,  in  unfolding  the  chapter  of  our  beloved  Rabbi's  life 
before  you,  I  experience  a  sense  of  reverence  akin  to  the  pro- 
phet's feeling  when  he  was  informed  he  stood  on  holy  ground. 
The  four  decades  that  have  preceded  our  time  have  witnessed 
struggles  in  the  house  of  Israel  that  are  inscribed  on  a  separate  page 
in  our  religious  history.  The  air  was  rent  with  cries  of  war,  the 
ground  heaved  under  the  violent  movements  of  the  combatants, 
but  to  us  younger  men  the  ground  is  holy.  The  battle  was  waged 
around  the  sanctuary,  to  preserve  it  in  its  purity,  to  keep  its 
holy  spirit  from  dying  amongst  men,  to  permit  its  continuance  as 
the  witness  of  God  unto  his  people.  The  heroes  are  all  dead  or 
dying.  One  or  two  are  left  to  enjoy  the  fruits  of  their  labors  and 
receive  the  measure  of  our  reverence,  and  let  us  thank  God  that 
the  great  number  of  these  valiant  soldiers  did  not  pass  away 
without  at  least  seeing  the  silver  line  of  Jordan,  and  beyond  it 
the  certainty  that  they  had  not  lived  in  vain.  When  to  -  day  we 
mention  the  name  of  Dr.  Elkan  Cohn,  we  do  not  simply  mention 
the  name  of  Emanu  -  El's  faithful  pastor,  but  that  of  a  man  who 
in  the  spiritual  struggles  of  the  last  forty  years  took  a  prominent 
part;  who  contributed  a  large  share  towards  the  wondrous  up- 
building of  Judaism  in  the  United  States  ;  who  braved  contempt, 
despised  danger,  risked  rank  and  fortune,  and  the  good  opinion 
of  his  brethren,  in  the  attempt  to  liberate  Judaism  from  the 
deathly  stupor  in  which  it  had  fallen.  Years  before  his  death  he 
knew  that  the  cause  had  succeeded;  and,  though  his  compeers 
were  one  after  the  other  borne  hence,  having  fought  the  good 
fight,  he  knew  that  the  foundations  of  the  regenerated  Judaism 
being  well  set,  no  human  hand  could  henceforth  undermine  it. 

He  was  born  on  February  22 — a  memorable  ;day — of  the  year 
1820.     The  town  of  Kosten  in  Posen,  where  hisparents  lived,  had 


experienced  little  of  the  European  upheaval  of  a  few  years  before. 
All  around,  in  the  great  cities  of  Europe,  the  downfall  and  exile  of 
Napoleon  had  been  succeeded  by  the  re-establishment  of  old  lines, 
which  carried  with  them  a  recurrence  of  conservative  thought  in 
religious  matters.  The  nascent  Jewish  reform  party,  which  had 
been  favored  by  the  Napoleonic  princes,  despite  the  anathemas 
of  the  Rabbis,  spoke  with  but  a  timid  voice.  Its  early  leaders 
were  dead  or  indifferent,  and  Israel  was  in  no  present  humor  to 
give  ear  to  liberal  thought.  Everywhere  Rabbinism  had  ob- 
tained a  stronger  hold,  its  resentment  against  the  religious  an- 
archists who  dared  preach  a  reconciliation  between  the  spirit  of 
Judaism  and  the  spirit  of  modern  times  was  deep  and  bitter.  No 
wonder,  then,  that  Elkan  Cohn  was  born  in  orthodox  surround- 
ings. His  father  was  a  learned  and  intelligent  man,  who,  on 
account  of  the  early  death  of  his  wife,  was  compelled  to  send  his 
son  to  Shempin,  where  his  grandparents  lived.  In  the  latter 
village  the  child  was  raised  in  an  atmosphere  purely  Talmudical. 
Traveling  Rabbis  were  the  guests  of  his  relatives;  learned  dis- 
cussions were  the  topics  at  family  meals ;  morning  and  evening 
the  hum  of  dialectics,  the  monotone  of  controversy  and  exposition 
resounded  in  his  ears.  In  these  surroundings  Elkan  Cohn  im- 
bibed that  great  desire  for  knowledge  that  clung  to  him  through 
life.  When  he  left  his  grandparents'  house  at  the  age  of  four- 
teen to  begin  his  studies,  he  was  already  well  equipped  in  Tal- 
mudical lore.  An  eager,  receptive  mind  was  his  —  endowed  by 
nature  with  the  remarkable  faculty  of  not  alone  grasping  the  sa- 
lient points  of  knowledge,  but  of  retaining  them  to  be  used  as  the 
material  for  future  structures  of  wisdom.  I  do  not  know  whether 
in  the  home  circle  he  was  permitted  to  enrich  his  mind  with  the 
elements  of  profane  knowledge.  But  he  had  the  making  of  a 
great  scholar  in  him,  and  his  wonderful  application  and  incessant 
devotion  to  his  tasks  made  him  the  favorite  pupil  of  all  his  teach- 
ers. Remember  that  the  men  and  generation  of  his  class  became 
scholars  in  profane  knowledge,  not  by  the  consent  or  the  com- 


mand  of  their  early  teachers.  The  spirit  of  Israel's  teachers,  ex- 
cepting a  few,  was  then  inimical  to  profane  knowledge;  versa- 
tility in  the  Talmudical  codices,  dialectic  ability,  learning  in  the 
complex  Talmudical  jurisprudence,  were  deemed  the  highest  ac- 
complishments. The  greatest  Talmudist  was  the  greatest  scholar. 
The  Mendelssohnians— the  men  of  progress,  of  whom  Zunz  was 
already  a  worthy  representative — who  stood  then  well-nigh  alone, 
the  others  having  fallen  away,  were  deemed  next  to  infidels. 
The  generation  of  Rabbis  who  had  publicly  anathematized  Men- 
delssohn's German  translation  of  the  Scriptures,  was  succeeded 
by  men  whose  enmity  was  of  no  less  degree.  Few  were  then 
the  Rabbis  who  sought  to  supplement  their  Talmudical  accom- 
plishments by  a  university  career.  These  few,  every  one  stand- 
ing out  as  a  hero  amongst  men,  were  the  forerunners  of  our 
modern  Judaism.  They  infused  a  desire  for  classical  knowledge 
and  for  scientific  attainments  into  the  Talmud  Bachurim,  whom  a 
consciousness  to  rise  above  their  surroundings  had  driven  to  the 
German  schools.  Some  of  our  leading  American  Rabbis,  the 
greatest  number  of  whom  are  now  gathered  to  their  fathers,  be- 
longed to  that  class. 

Elkan  Cohn,  having  passed  some  time  in  Breslau,  was  sent  to 
Braunschweig,  the  cradle  ot  poets  and  scholars,  where  he  was  ex- 
ceptionally fortunate  in  the  selection  of  his  teachers.  Amongst 
Dr.  Cohn's  papers  there  is  a  certificate  in  Dr.  Herzfeld's  hand- 
writing, to  the  effect  that  the  young  student  had  been  for  three 
years  a  pupil  of  Rabbi  Isaac  Eger,  a  son  of  the  great  Rabbi 
Akiba  Eger,  and  that  after  the  death  of  that  scholarly  Talmudist, 
the  famous  historian  himself  had  instructed  him.  The  name  of 
Herzfeld  suggests  the  ripest  knowledge,  the  finest  historical  acu- 
men, the  most  versatile  talents,  and  from  him,  whose  history  of 
the  Jews  is  still  a  text-book  among  students,  Elkan  Cohn  im- 
bibed that  scholarly  faculty  of  industrious,  painstaking  research, 
which  enabled  him  to  master  difficult  problems  of  learning,  and 


did  not  leave  him  until  his  growing  infirmities  robbed  him  of  the 
pleasure  of  patient  study.  Meanwhile  he  attended  the  gymna- 
sium, where  he  received  a  thorough  modern  education.  At  the 
age  of  twenty,  Herzfeld  sent  him  to  Berlin  with  letters  of  loving 
regard  to  the  spiritual  authorities  and  influential  Jewish  laymen, 
and  then,  in  that  great  center  of  learning,  he  slowly  developed 
those  remarkable  faculties  which  were  destined,  under  the  pro- 
tection of  Heaven,  to  become  a  blessing  to  the  Jews  of  the  far 
West.  He  matriculated  as  a  student  of  the  humaniora  at  the 
University  of  Berlin,  and  pursued  his  theological  and  Rabbinical 
studies  under  the  famous  J.  J.  Ettinger,  then  chief  Rabbi  of  the 
Berlin  community.  His  ten  years'  residence  in  Berlin  form  a 
tale  of  patient  toil,  often  diverted  by  intercourse  with  learned  and 
polite  society.  In  no  haste  to  seek  a  professional  position,  he 
maintained  himself,  independently  of  the  world,  as  a  private 
tutor,  and  was  enabled,  as  seems  always  to  have  been  his  fondest 
desire,  to  pursue  science  for  its  own  dear  sake,  giving  but  a 
fleeting  thought  to  the  responsibilities  he  would  be  called  upon 
in  future  to  assume.  The  university  made  him  a  scholar;  his 
intercourse  with  Zunz  and  the  growing  number  of  progressive 
scholars  opened  his  eyes  to  the  demands  of  the  times.  Israel 
wished  to  break  its  fetters;  the  young  particularly  had  grown 
weary  of  Rabbinical  domination.  In  them  the  embers  of  a  purer 
faith  were  being  fanned  until  they  grew  into  bright  flames;  and 
they  had  learned  already  that  the  sum  of  all  knowledge  was  not 
contained  in  the  Talmud,  its  codices  and  commentaries.  They 
had  a  precious  bequeathment  of  the  generation  preceding  them, 
namely,  the  great  thought  that  Israel's  political  freedom  could 
not  be  accomplished  in  the  midst  of  mental  stupor;  that  to  wrench 
enfranchisement  and  manhood  from  the  nations  would  be  impos- 
sible if  Israel  persisted  in  enveloping  itself  in  its  oriental  frame. 
That  thought,  spoken  first  in  whispers,  grew  to  an  angry  demand 
when  Elkan  Cohn  was  a  student,  and  those  who  found  the  Ger- 
man Jews  indifferent  to  spiritual  regeneration  had  already  crossed 


the  seas  to  dedicate  new  shrines  to  the  God  of  Israel  on  the  vir- 
gin soil  of  free  America.     Our  friend  was  one  of  those  young  men, 
whose  pursuit  of  literature  and  intercourse  with  refined  minds  had 
rendered  them  forever  incapable  of  a  career  circumscribed  on  all 
sides  by  Rabbinical  restrictions.     But  his  time  had  not  yet  come. 
He  plodded  patiently,  diverting  himself  by  writing  beautiful  He- 
brew poetry,  copying  the  Syriac  version  of  the  Pentateuch,  or  com- 
posing Greek  and  Latin  verse.*    He  remained  long  enough  in  Ber- 
lin to  witness  the  exciting  scenes  of  the  revolution  of  '48,  and, 
being  a  member  of  the  students'  corps,  the  peaceful  devotee  of 
science  became  a  soldier  for  the  nonce,  and  did  good  service  in 
defense  of  the  national  property.     In  Berlin  also  the  romance  of 
his  life  was  enacted.     In  one  of  the  families  he  attended  in  the 
capacity  of  tutor  he  met  the  lady  whom  most  of  you  have  known 
and  esteemed,  who  was  herself  patiently  moulding  young  minds 
given  in  her  care.     Her  beauty,   her  gendeness  and   sweet  de- 
meanor, no  less  than  her  charming  gifts  of  mind,  attracted  the 
student,  and  between  these  two  there  sprung  up  an  attachment 
that  ripened  into  a  love  true  and  tender  and  all-absorbing,  and 
they  agreed  that  God  had  created  them  for  each  other.     When 
he  left  Berlin  in  1850,  having  become  Rabbi  of  Brandenburg,  he 
brought  his  young  wife  with  him,  and  she  ever  remained  the 
proudest  and  most  cherished  treasure  of  the  gende  scholar,  who 
but  for  that  dear  companion  by  his  side  might  have  found  some 
difficulty  in  braving  the  risks  of  his  period.    For  he  was  essentially 
a  man  of  peace.     God  had  created  him  with  a  gentle  nature,  a 
temperament  the  reverse  of  aggressive,  and  though  he  was  the 
peer  of  any  scholar  in  the  land,  he  might  have  remained  content 
with  a  pittance  and  his  beloved  books,  but  for  that  pure  wifely 
ambition  that  led  the  noble  young  sage  into  more  worldly  paths 
for  the  happiness  of  those  who  had  already  begun  to  admire  the 
depth  of  both  his  learning  and  his  character.     Four  years  he  re- 

*Several  very  interesting  poems  and  a  fragment  of  the  manuscript  above  alluded 
to,  I  have  found  among  Dr.  Cohn's  papers.— J.  V. 

19 


mained  in  Brandenburg-.     Then  the  world  unfolded  to  his  gaze, 
and  he  was  summoned  to  do  manly  toil. 

In  America  men  were  needed.  The  nascent  congregations  of 
Israel  clamored  for  the  teachers  in  whom  the  fire  of  faith  had  be- 
come intensified  by  research  and  study.  A  few  were  on  the 
premises  already,  men  who  had  come  of  their  own  choice.  To 
give  you  a  picture  of  Judaism  in  America  in  1854,  the  year  of 
Dr.  Cohn's  arrival,  would  require  more  time  than  may  be  utilized 
at  present.  The  distant  thunder  of  revolution  was  being  heard. 
The  broad  spirit  of  the  land  created  in  the  hearts  of  the  Jews  ir- 
reconcilable objections  to  petrified  traditions.  Everywhere  cal- 
lousness, indifference,  lack  of  spiritual  fervor  were  the  result  of 
imperfect  organization,  half- educated  preachers,  and  an  ortho- 
doxy ot  form,  an  empty  shell,  beneath  which  the  substance  of 
faith  had  disappeared.  The  congregations  suffered  from  the 
want  of  preachers.  The  number  of  educated  men  of  that  class 
was  surprisingly  few.  The  cause  of  reform  had  just  been  stirred, 
and  the  attempts  to  hush  the  timid  voices  were  many.  Already 
in  1832  a  Jewish  layman  of  Charleston,  Isaac  Harby,  had  plead- 
ed with  his  congregation  for  an  intelligent,  modernized  presenta- 
tion of  Jewish  religious  forms.  For  a  long  time  his  voice  re- 
mained unheard,  outside  of  his  own  congregation  ;  then  in  the 
north  one  voice  after  the  other  gave  forth  sound  The  battle 
was  soon  to  commence.  Our  revered  friend,  quietly  ministering 
to  his  Brandenburg  congregation,  received  a  call  from  the  Jewish 
community  of  Albany,  N.  Y. ,  to  cross  the  ocean  and  become 
their  spiritual  guide.  Without  any  thought  of  the  agitation  in 
which  he  was  to  take  so  prominent  a  part,  simply  conscious  that 
his  talents  would  be  useful  to  his  coreligionists  in  the  New  World, 
Dr.  Elkan  Cohn,  at  the  age  of  thirty-four,  in  the  closing  months 
of  the  year  1854,  took  his  wife  and  child,  and  committing  him- 
self to  the  mercy  of  Heaven,  withstood  the  perils  of  the  sea  to 
found  for  himself  an  American  home. 


He  arrived  in  Albany  in  the  closing  month  of  the  year,  was 
received  with  the  honors  due  his  exalted  station,  and  instantly 
went  to  work.  In  New  York  a  few  choice  spirits  had  welcomed  him 
— men  who  knew  the  solid  mettle  of  the  new-comer.  Lilienthal, 
whom  agratetul  posterity  has  named  the  "  Prince  of  Peace,"  was 
the  principal  of  an  academy,  Merzbacher  was  preaching  to  the 
Emauu-El  congregation,  Raphall  was  preacher  of  the  B'nai  Jes- 
umn,  and  the  lamented  Isaacs  was  in  the  midst  of  his  career  of 
blessed  usefulness.  Wise,  Dr.  Cohn's  predecessor  in  Albany  — 
a  fiery,  warlike  spirit,  whose  perennial  strength  seems  to  with- 
stand the  times — had  gone  to  Cincinnati;  Gutheim  had  departed 
for  New  Orleans;  Einliorn  and  Adler  had  not  yet  come,  but  they 
were  in  time  for  the  battle.  The  outposts  were  being  filled,  the 
sentinels  properly  stationed,  and  the  notes  of  war  were  rumbling 
like  distant  thunder  in  the  angry  sky.  The  casus  belli  is  histori- 
cal. When  the  forces  separated  the  gage  lying  between  them 
was  the  Ark  of  the  Covenant.  The  one  side  coveted  the  ark, 
the  other  its  contents.  That  is  the  simplest  presentation  of  the 
case.  We  render  our  opponents  the  justice  that  they  sought  on 
their  side  to  cultivate  the  spirit  of  Judaism,  and  felt  that  they 
could  do  so  by  perpetuating  the  traditional  envelopments  of  that 
spirit.  Whether  they  succeeded  or  not  I  need  not  answer. 
Forty  years  of  history  have  given  answer.  Dr.  Wise  during  his 
ministrations  in  Albany  had  been  the  means  of  throwing  the  con- 
gregation into  a  ferment.  He  had  spoken  with  no  doubtful  voice; 
he  demanded  changes  which,  denounced  at  the  time  in  the  bit- 
terest, most  abusive  language,  have  since  been  adopted  by  nearly 
every  congregation  in  the  land.  In  New  York,  Merzbacher  had 
launched  his  new  abridged  prayer-book  with  much  fear  and  tim- 
idity. The  time  for  open  discussion  had  come.  What  meant 
these  turbulent  reformers,  these  half-infidels,  violators  of  the  tra- 
ditional law,  who  openly  disregarded  many  of  the  traditional  cus- 
toms? Their  answer  never  was  equivocal.  They  demanded 
the  upbuilding  of  the  spirit  of  Judaism,  the  elevation  of  Jewish 


manhood,  the  abrogation  of  spiritless  devotional  compositions; 
and  the  great  underlying  factor  of  their  movement  was  the  har- 
monizing of  Jewish  religious  ideas  with  the  spirit  of  the  times. 
Nine  reform  congregations  existed  in- 1854.  To-day  w^e  have 
two  hundred.  These  nine  with  their  leaders  stood  the  brunt  of 
battle  and  not  for  a  moment  wavered,  nor  was  their  crest  lowered 
on  the  day  ot  war.  Jewish  organs  fulminated  against  them  in 
Pope-like  bulls;  they  were  denounced  as  enemies  of  Judaism;  of 
some  it  was  said  they  were  self-  called  preachers.  A  temporary 
truce  was  called  a  year  later.  In  1855  an  attempt  was  made  to 
harmonize  the  differences  between  the  parties,  and  had  these  dif- 
ferences been  as  to  the  form  only,  the  reform  party  of  the  United 
States  would  have  died  in  its  infancy.  A  convention  of  Rabbis 
and  delegates  was  called  at  Cleveland  in  1855.  The  call  set  forth 
grandiloquently  the  great  things  that  were  expected.  Peace  was 
to  reign  supreme,  asylums  to  be  established,  colleges  to  be  en- 
dowed; in  brief,  the  sanguine  hopes  ot  these  young  men  gave  a 
rosy  color  to  the  attempt.  When  the  convention  met  the  new- 
comer was  honored  as  befitted  his  station.  Wise  was  president; 
Lilienthal,  secretary;  Elkan  Cohn  was  vice-president  and  chair- 
man of  the  committee  on  text  and  prayer-books.  The  results  of 
that  convention  may  be  summed  up  in  the  fact  that  after  its  ad- 
journment the  delegates  were  more  than  ever  convinced  of  the 
futility  of  a  compromise.  And  in  the  course  of  a  few  years,  when 
the  reform  cause  prospered  by  accession  to  its  ranks,  it  was  read- 
ily seen  how  impossibly  the  few  real  reformers  could  harmonize 
with  the  advocates  of  the  status  quo.  When  Einhorn  of  honored 
memory  began  to  thunder  against  half- reform,  against  the  pomp 
and  tinsel  and  glitter  of  a  compromise  worship,  Dr.  Elkan  Cohn 
readily  came  to  his  side,  and  thereafter  his  history  in  the  East 
was  closed.  He  was  no  Titan,  no  world-stormer,  simply  a  peace- 
ful citizen,  who  could  accomplish  his  sacred  objects  by  teaching, 
and  he  loathed  from  his  soul  the  bitter  words  that  were  spoken 
on  both  sides. 


In  the  month  of  January,  i860,  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the 
Emanu-El  Congregation  of  San  Francisco,  Henry  Sehgman  then 
being  president,  elected  Dr.  Elkan  Cohn  their  Rabbi  and  minis- 
ter for  three  years.  In  the  fall  of  that  year,  in  time  for  the  sol- 
emn festivals,  he  arrived  and  was  installed.  He  came,  after  a 
struggle  with  himself.  Six  years  of  devoted  service  had  endeared 
him  to  his  Albany  congregation.  Another  child  had  been  born 
to  him,  and  his  surroundings  were  thoroughly  congenial.  He 
was  aware  of  the  future  that  awaited  him,  knew  that  all  the  schol- 
arly attainments  acquired  by  years  of  painstaking  labor  would 
not  be  valued  as  highly  as  the  faculty  to  organize  schools  and  to 
build  up  the  rather  lukewarm  spirit  of  the  West.  He  felt  that  he 
would  be  a  pioneer  minister,  and  realized  the  difficulties  of  that 
position.  If  he  hesitated  for  a  moment  before  he  came,  you  who 
knew  him  can  testify  that  he  never  wavered  in  his  devotion  to  his 
work  after  he  arrived.  Numbers  who  welcomed  him  to  San 
Francisco  are  here  to-day  within  the  reach  of  my  voice;  they  can 
do  him  better  justice  than  the  young  who  inherit  the  fruits  ot 
their  parents'  toil.  Those  who  have  seen  him  wend  his  way  to 
the  old  Broadway  Synagogue,  those  who  were  with  him  when  he 
descended  from  the  chair  of  an  academician  to  become  the 
teacher  of  little  children,  do  him  the  justice  that  no  man  of  his 
tastes  and  inclinations  ever  made  greater  sacrifices  than  he  did  ; 
and  he  was  well  rewarded.  No  man  was  more  admired,  no  man 
enjoyed  the  love  of  his  flock  in  such  a  degree.  And  when  in  his 
elegant  German  discourses  he  began  to  plead  the  cause  of  re- 
form, he  found  a  congregation  ripe  for  the  change  and  willing  to 
follow.  He  was  no  half- hearted  reformer.  Whatever  savored 
of  unreason,  whatever  was  retrogressive,  whatever  partook  of  the 
nature  of  the  insensate  was  abhorrent  to  his  soul.  To  educate 
his  people  to  a  pure,  reasoning  worship  of  God  —  a  worship  clad 
in  forms  harmonious — was  one  of  the  main  objects  of  his  mission. 
In  our  local  history  he  therefore  occupies  the  place  that  Einhorn, 
Lilienthal,  Wise  and  others  occupied  in  their  respective  spheres. 

23 


If  his  language  was  less  bitter  than  that  of  some  of  his  colleagues 
in  the  East,  his  cause  lost  not  an  iota  by  it.  Sabbath  after  Sab- 
bath he  attacked  the  rust  of  centuries,  grew  eloquent  when  point- 
ing out  the  needs  of  timely  changes,  and  the  objects  to  be  accom- 
plished thereby.  In  the  stately  temple  his  congregation  meant 
to  erect  for  him,  not  a  sound  of  disharmony  should  be  heard,  and 
the  worshipers  should  be  weaned  from  the  unreasonable  features 
of  traditional  thought  and  worship.  But,  thoroughgoing  radical 
as  he  was  in  these  respects,  he  shared  with  Einhorn  and  Lilien- 
thal  the  beautiful  distinction  that  no  purer  men,  no  better  Jews, 
no  greater  lovers  of  their  people,  no  more  pious  worshipers  of 
the  God  of  their  fathers  ever  trod  the  soil  of  America.  Dr. 
Cohn's  reverence  was  the  result  of  an  abiding  faith  in  God;  his 
reforms  were  no  mere  policy,  no  mere  catering  to  a  more  or  less 
modern  taste.  They  were  the  results  of  an  anxious,  prayerful 
inquiry  how  to  render  the  greatest  honor  to  the  God  he  rever- 
ently worshiped.  Many  misunderstood  him ;  many  opposed 
him.  He  made  enemies  for  truth's  sake,  but,  gentle  soul  that  he 
was,  he  never  yielded  an  inch  in  the  service  of  his  cause.  Only 
recently,  shortly  before  his  fatal  illness  overtook  him,  he  spoke 
again  with  some  degree  of  impatience  of  the  men  who,  just  when 
the  congregation  assumed  a  heavy  financial  debt  to  enable  them 
to  build  the  new  sanctuary,  left  the  ranks  and  founded  a  new  con- 
gregation, ostensibly  upon  principles  diametrically  opposed  to 
his  own — principles  they  never  kept,  for,  with  but  trifling  differ- 
ences, their  present  worship  and  doctrines  of  religion  are  the  same 
as  ours.  How  his  heart  swelled  with  pleasurable  emotion  when 
for  the  first  time  he  performed  his  priestly  functions  in  this  house! 
How  his  soul  sung  paeans  of  praise,  that  at  last  the  cause  had 
been  permanently  established!  Since  then  twenty  -  two  years 
have  come  and  gone,  and  say  now  of  him  that  he  faithfully  min- 
istered unto  you,  never  yielding  when  he  was  right,  always  for- 
giving when  he  was  assailed.  Not  one  among  you  who  has  not 
at  some  time   received  his   ministrations,  for  he  was  a  priestly 


Rabbi,  who  came  to  your  households  to  give  you  peace.  Thus 
he  pursued  his  career  and  passed  his  Hfe  in  the  far  West  — 
preaching,  teaching,  ministering;  arousing  every  noble  impulse 
in  his  flock;  fostering  every  charitable  sentiment;  assisting  in  the 
foundation  and  endowment  of  our  public  charitable  institutions ; 
setting  an  example  every  day  of  his  life— the  example  of  a  singu- 
larly devoted  husband,  a  loving  father,  a  rehgious  man,  a  public- 
spirited  citizen,  and  a  benefactor  of  his  kind  in  speech,  thought 
and  action.  Every  impulse  of  his  noble  soul,  every  thought  of 
his  rich  mind  was  consecrated  to  God,  to  religion,  to  humanity, 
and  in  the  domain  of  charitable  action  his  spirited  example  cre- 
ated noble  philanthropists  among  the  young  Hebrews  of  the 
West.  You  will  not,  I  am  sure,  contradict  me  when  I  aver  that, 
much  as  the  Emanu-El  Congregation  of  San  Francisco  —  today 

the  most  liberal  and  most  intelligent  congregation  of  the  West 

owes  to  its  public  -  spirited  laymen,  to  its  devoted  presidents  and 
officers,  its  standing  is  in  a  large  measure  owing  to  the  twenty- 
nine  years  services  of  Dr.  Elkan  Cohn. 

And  now  that  his  last  page  is  turned,  now  that  the  elegies  have 
been  sung,  and  the  hoary  head  has  been  laid  to  rest  on  its  eternal 
pillow,  let  us  say  of  him  with  deep  reverence:  2MD  *3  pHV  TlCi< 
"Tell  ye  of  the  righteous  that  it  was  good."  Well  done— well  done, 
good  and  faithful  servant !  What  need  to  recount  the  long  list 
of  his  services  to  his  generation,  the  singular  devotion  that  char- 
acterized his  every  action  ?  What  need  to  name  the  beautiful 
deeds  of  each  year,  the  wise  teachings  of  every  period  ?  Give 
him  one  page  in  your  history,  men  of  San  Francisco;  inscribe  on 
that  page  simply  his  name  —  the  honored,  revered  name  of  Dr. 
Elkan  Cohn — and  the  name  will  stand  for  all  that  is  beautiful  in 
life,  all  that  is  lofty  in  character,  all  that  constitutes  the  true  man, 
the  faithful  shepherd,  the  noble  scholar. 

And  thus  let  us  part  with  him,  reserving  loving  thoughts  for 
his  dear  memory  in  our  hearts.     In  a  few  days  these  emblems  of 


mourning  will  be  removed  and  our  synagogue  will  resume  its 
wonted  appearance,  for  it  is  not  meet  to  lament  forever.  But 
look  to  it,  brethren,  that  with  the  emblems  that  so  sadly  suggest 
his  departure,  his  spirit  doth  not  depart  from  5^ou.  Look  to  it, 
that  he  who  gave  you  the  best  part  of  his  life,  whose  ambition 
centered  in  your  spiritual  well-being  —  look  to  it,  brethren,  that 
his  memory  be  not  offended  by  any  retrogressive  act  on  your 
part.  He  leaves  you  a  precious  legacy;  keep  it  well.  Continue 
his  work,  labor  in  his  spirit,  promote  every  noble  cause  as  he 
did,  and  thus  shall  ye  be  blessed  of  God  and  men,  and  your 
works  shall  be  the  noblest  monuments  erected  to  the  memory  of 
the  gentle  shepherd,  whose  spirit,  in  the  realms  of  eternity,  will 
be  happy  because  of  your  happiness.  Consecrate  this  temple 
anew  to  a  pure  service,  to  a  living  faith,  to  noble  acts,  and  con- 
secrate your  lives  by  the  pure  light  of  the  teachings  that  shall 
not  cease  their  voice  in  these  halls,  and  then  his  labors  shall  not 
have  been  in  vain,  and  the  faithful  work  of  his  hands  shall  come 
back  to  us,  to  abide  with  us,  and  to  bless  the  future  of  our  chil- 
dren. 

From  his  grave  in  our  home  of  peace,  where  he  sleeps  beside 
his  faithful  wife  —  these  two  who  loved  and  were  true  in  life  are 
not  separated  in  death  —  there  comes  to  us  the  odor  of  sweet 
flowers,  planted  by  loving  hands  in  tender  memory  of  the  father, 
the  teacher,  the  friend.  And  every  gently -freighted  breeze  so 
coming  from  the  southland  brings  to  us  a  message  from  the 
dear  departed  —  a  message  of  peace,  of  love,  of  truth.  And  to 
the  west  from  his  grave,  beyond  the  sloping  hills  and  the  flower- 
clad  landscapes,  there  is  the  silver  line  of  the  sea,  kissing  the 
shore  of  the  land  he  loved  with  a  mighty  love.  You  have  often 
watched  how  that  silver  line  recedes  and  advances?  It  is  an  em- 
blem of  the  eternal  continuance  of  God's  Providence.  It  brings  a 
daily  message  to  toiling,  struggling,  suffering  man,  that  overlook- 
ing the  world  with  care  infinite  is  God,  who  giveth  life  and  watch- 


eth  the  birth  of  centuries  and  generations.  To  Him,  then,  who  giv- 
eth  His  beloved  sleep,  to  Him  we  entrust  the  soul  of  our  gentle, 
loving  Rabbi,  and  pray  that  the  rich  reward  of  a  nobly  spent  life 
may  be  his.  And  as  with  the  recurrence  of  the  seasons,  the  earth 
dons  its  smiling  garments,  breathing  the  hope  of  eternal  life  into 
the  hearts  of  men,  so  let  us  hope,  then,  brethren,  and  pray  with 
might  that  immortality  doth  crown  the  life  we  have  mourned  for, 
and  the  sweet  repose  of  the  righteous  is  vouchsafed  unto  him. 
Amen. 

And  now  let  us  rise  together  once  more  and  in  honor  of  his 
memory  recite  the  customary  benediction. 


27 


RESOLUTIONS 


PASSED  BY  THE 


Board  of  '^vnsit^s  ol  i:^ein|]Ie  ^manu^^EI 


RESPECTING   THE    DEMISE   OF   THE 


REV.    DR.    ELKAN    COHN, 


"The  Lord  hath  given,  the  Lord  hath  taken;  Blessed  be  the 
name  of  the  Lord." 

Our  worthy  and  revered  minister,  our  noble  teacher,  our 
most  excellent  friend,  the  Reverend  Dr.  Elkan  Cohn,  has  yielded 
up  his  spirit  and  has  been  taken  to  his  final  resting  place.  God 
in  his  wisdom  has  decreed  to  call  him  from  his  labors  in  our 
midst,  and  we  bow  to  the  eternal  will. 

But  whilst,  in  the  spirit  of  our  faith,  rendering  this  homage  to 
the  Judge  of  the  spirit  of  all  flesh,  we  must  give  expression  to  the 
grief  felt  not  only  among  the  members  of  this  Board,  nor  solely 
in  the  Congregation  to  which  he  ministered  for  three  decades,  but 
throughout  the  entire  community,  irrespective  of  creed.  These 
general  manifestations  of  sorrow  are  more  eloquent  than  words, 
and  emphasize  the  leading  position  he  held  in  this  community  by 
his  learning,  his  nobility  and  uprightness  of  character.  Let  his 
example  and  precepts  be  a  beacon-light  to  us  and  our  children,  to 
guide  us  in  the  path  to  which  beloved  to  direct  our  footsteps,  and 
let  our  action  be  a  vindication  of  the  great  truths  he  delighted  to 
unfold  to  us. 

Thus  shall  we  raise  him  a  monument  more  enduring  than  stone, 
and  keep  his  memory  alive  for  future  generations. 


Resolved,  That  as  a  token  of  respect  to  the  nieniory  of  oui- 
noble  deceased  teacher,  it  is  hereby  ordered  : 

1.  That  the  Synagogue  in  which  he  so  faithfully  ministered 
before  the  Lord  be  draped  in  the  emblems  of  mourning  for  thirty 
days. 

2.  That  a  public  memorial  service  in  honor  of  his  memory  be 
held  on  Sunday,  April  7th,  1S89,  at  2  o'clock  P.  M. 

3-  That  a  memorial  tablet  be  built  into  the  wall  of  the  vesti- 
bule leading  to  the  sanctuary,  on  which  his  name,  suitably  en- 
graved, shall  tell  all  who  come  to  worship  of  the  distinguished 
services  rendered  by  Dr.  Elkan  Cohn  to  his  Congregation. 

Resolved,  That  we  condole  with  his  family  in  their  great  be- 
reavement, and  offer  our  sympathy  for  their  great  loss. 

Resolved,  That  a  copy  of  these  Resolutions  be  sent  to  the  fam- 
ily, and  also  be  spread  upon  the  minutes  of  the  Board. 

Signed, 

P.  N.  LiLIENTHAL, 

M.  Heller,  President,  J.  Greenebaum, 

A.  Anspacher,  Vice-President,  S.  Rosener, 

E.  Lk\-v,  Secretary.  Connnittee. 


RESOLUTIONS   OF   REGRET 


PASSED    RV   THE 


Bonrd  of  5E6ttcotioii  of  Congregation  3Emnnu-3:l 


ox  THE    OCCASION    OF  THE    PASSINT,  AWAY   OF  THE 


REV.    DR.    KLKAN    COHN. 


San  Francisco,  March  15,  i8<S9. 

The  Board  of  Education  of  Temple  Emanu-El  desires,  in 
common  with  other  bodies  and  organizations,  to  place  on  record 
its  great  esteem  of  the  memory  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Elkan  Cohn,  and 
its  sorrow  at  his  untimely  departure  from  the  held  of  human 
action. 

Dr.  Cohn  assumed  charge  of  our  Religious  School  upon  his 
arrival  in  San  Francisco  in  i860,  and  gave  the  institution  the  ben- 
efit of  unremitting  care  and  sagacious  counsel.  His  great  learn- 
ing and  his  experience  as  a  practical  educator  were  applied  to 
the  reorganization  of  the  school,  and,  during  his  long  career,  a 
generation  of  pious  and  Godfearing  Israelites  passed  from  the 
class-room  and  from  under  his  loving  eye  into  the  world.  All  ot 
these  ex -pupils  of  Dr.  Elkan  Cohn,  many  of  whom  are  now 
honored  members  of  Temple  Emanu-El  and  occupy  stations  of 
trust  in  society,  look  back  with  gratitude  to  the  time  when  their 
revered  teacher  prepared  their  spirits  for  contact  with  the  world, 
and  taught  them  the  wise  words  of  religion  applied  to  daily  ac- 
tion. And  their  children  also,  those  at  present  in  our  care, 
mourn  for  the  venerable  Rabbi,  whose  lofty  ambitions  included  a 
generous  pride  in  the  successes  of  the  school,  and  an  earnest  de- 


sire  to  associate  its  name  with  the  high  precepts  of  a  pure  and 
progressive  Judaism. 

Resolved,  That  by  the  death  of  Rev.  Dr.  Elkan  Cohn,  formerly 
Superintendent  of  the  Religious  School  of  Temple  Emanu-El, 
that  institution  loses  a  benefactor  whose  name  will  be  forever  re- 
vered, and  whose  memory  will  be  reverently  honored. 

Resolved,  That  a  copy  of  these  presents  be  spread  on  the  min- 
utes, and  in  an  engrossed  form,  forwarded  to  the  family  of  the 
departed  Rabbi. 


Signed, 


Jacob  Voorsanger, 

Superintendent. 


L.  L.  Dennery,  Chairman, 
P.  LiPPiTT,  Secretary, 
R.  Peixotto,  Treasurer, 

S.   FUERTH, 

M.  Wertheimer, 
H.  Erlanger, 
S.  Greenebaum, 
I.  W.  Goldman. 


293123 


LOS  ANGELES 


University  of  California 

southern"bIgioUubra.wfa^^^^^^^ 

from  Which  it  was  borrowed. 


jO\- 


01 


^9193 


Univej 

Sou 

Li 


